That red-hot Nationals lineup, so productive during the last week at home, went ice-cold in the thin Denver air last night. Go figure. They'll give it another shot tonight in Game 2 of this four-game series against the Rockies, with the same starting eight as yesterday.

That lineup will be up against Juan Nicasio, a rookie right-hander who has been pretty effective in his first big-league stint (four of his last six outings have been quality starts).

Jordan Zimmermann starts for the Nationals, inching ever closer to his season limit of 160 innings. He's currently sitting at 132 2/3, so he's only got about four more starts before he's shut down for 2011.

As you know, I'm not in Colorado this weekend. Enjoy the game and the conversation…

I know it's Friday — I'm going to try! Hopefully the game will be action-packed and will keep me awake. Either that – or lots of people posting typically hilarious things. Feels like it should be game time right about now……

Bryan Scrafford - Aug 5, 2011 at 11:52 PM

Looks like Zimmerman could be shutting down right about the time that Strasburg is ready to come back (perhaps a little earlier). That's kinda interesting since they're both making their way back after having Tommy John's surgery.

JZim'nn in the pre-game interview with Carp said it right. He said it will be a good rotation next year with Stras, Lannan and himself. I noticed he didn't mention Detwiler or Wang. Not sure if you can read into that. Just interesting.

Carpe, I hadn't thought about the lack of mention of Detwiler, Wang, et. al, but I did think it was classy of Zimmnn to mention Lannan. It's got to be hard to be John, especially as he continues to develop into a solid pitcher, hearing nothing but Zimmermann, Strasburg, Zimmmermann, Strasburg all the time.In fact, two years ago there were some Q&A sessions and stuff before the exhibition game against the Sox, and Lannan was one of the players involved. He was sitting there being a really good sport that no one seemed to be aware of him as anything other than a source of information on Stras.So, yeah, I was glad that Zimmnn mentioned him as a key piece of next year's rotation. Well said, kid!

My stomach is still in my throat. Awful for everyone. I hope the brace was just precautionary and that he ends up getting a home run in the next game he pitches.Danny was safe on that play. Even the UFOs are rattled,

@dryw, very true on LannEn, as he really is the unmentioned guy that it was classy to be included in the same sentence by JZim'nn. LannEn's numbers are excellent when you track ERA and he can be considered top tier when he gets the walks under control.This team's complexion changes in 2012 as getting Strasburg back is like signing a top Free Agent.I also liked the idea in the other discussion about Coco Crisp. He liked it to as he hit a 2 run HR tonight.

dryw said… Scary indeed. I hope he's ok!! August 5, 2011 9:51 PM I know you are referring to Juan Nicasio but I was reading from the bottom up and look at the post above yours on Stammen. Scary.On a happier subject BEAST MODE

I think we knew LannEn was going to be ok pretty quickly. They later went to the hospital for precautionary tests. This looked worse. Yikes.

Bryan Scrafford - Aug 6, 2011 at 2:30 AM

Anyone think there will be calls for pitchers to wear helmets after what happened to Nicasio? They made base coaches make the switch a few years ago, after all, and pitchers are closer to the plate then they are.With that being said, I still don't see it happening in the foreseeable future.

You want ugly? The Pittsburgh Pirates put in their top pitcher Karstens tonight. He gave up 9 earned runs in 3.1 innings and his ERA jumped from the mid-2's to 3.05. The Pirates are losing 15-5 and just spiraling out of control. I think there players got pissed off when management couldn't get any good trades. Derrek Lee was the best they could do at the trade deadline when they needed another good outfielder.

NatsLady, for a few outings we saw 2 decent 7th inning guys named Matthews and Detwiler. I still cant tell if Matthews is the guy. Detwiler throwing high 90's in that 7th inning appearence last week is intriging.

Jordan Zimmermann for a brief second had his ERA back under 2.99 with NO EARNED RUNS. 2 more inherited runner to score. FP, I cant live with that. Sorry. No way FP. Dont make excuses for these guys. That was just a dismal effort on a light hitting guy.

just came up to the computer – can't believe after the screw up on that pop up that the first words out of FP's mouth is what a good job Nix did on getting the ball back into the infield – that was a play that MOST major league teams make!!! Its a pop up to left field!!! This is why we are in last place and its why we will stay there this season. Can't believe he didn't leave Zimm in to try and get out of this. I have seen this before and before and before going back to the 50s but damn it, its not fun!!!!

HRod should always and only be used in mop-up situation. Thats the only time he is good. I dont care if it takes 2 years, he needs to show for a long time in a mop up role that he can be trusted in a tough situation. He's like hanrahan of old.

Jordan Zimmermann is the most snake-bit pitcher I have ever seen. And – can someone please tell me why, why, why he couldn't finish that inning? HRod is a disaster! And then HE is allowed to just stay out there until the game is out of control!!!!!!!! JZ on his worst day would have done a better job than this!!! What is Davey Johnson thinking???And now, NOW, he calls in Houdini!!!

I strongly disagree with bringing in henry there, because there are 2 types of henry: lights-out henry, and awful henry. nothing in between. not only does jzim get charged with those runs, he is now no longer in line for the win despite pitching nearly 7 shutout innings. and now we have to use clippard. what a waste

I read and hear that Davey is in this for two more years and if he can't handle the bullpen better than this we are in for a long two years. Thank god for Clippard Now who is going to get the last 9 outs??

I distinctly remember hearing that we are going to leave the starting pitchers in longer. What a joke. JZim might have let one score, but not all three before getting the last out. HRod can ONLY pitch when there is absolutely no pressure. And – once you know you have bad Henry – you can't just let it go on!

@Anonymous said… Once again, Davey Johnson has no frigging clue what he is doing. August 5, 2011 11:06 PM ______________Davey has a bullpen full of losers not named Clip and Storen. Rizzo plucked Detwiler out, not Davey.This was the point the other day about backtoback with Wang and Detwiler. 2 pitchers who shouldn't be starting until September that will overuse your bullpen.Who does Davey go to in that situation? Either Coffey or Henry and Henry had more rest. I can only say that Davey's choice was to leave in Jordan or go to Henry and the hack looked as bad as most of his season. A couple games where Henry looked good and the rest are just trash. No nice way to say it. That isnt MLB quality.

@NatsLady in Minnesota said… JaneB, Anon is talking about Desi in the outfield making Nix drop the ball. Also not sure why he needed to get that foul from RZimm, but RZimm got out of the way. August 5, 2011 11:12 PM ___________________Come on NatsLady, you may be frustrated so dont starting blaming Desmond. Desmond made the right play on both of those. He has the angle on the foul ball and he goes for that popup until he is called off. That popup is bad luck.

Hate to predict stuff but I think baseballswami has his crystal ball out and on and if we are going to win this it will be with 3 innings of shutout ball. After Clippard, who will they throw in the 8th. You can't tell me he will go 3 innings!! Leadoff hitter on in the 8th with Helton and Tulo up next, we are in trouble.

@Anonymous said… Henry's stuff is so good, so how can he be so bad at times? would've liked to see the guy who threw 2.1 scoreless the other night show up, argh August 5, 2011 11:18 PM ______________Henry The Hack has no idea where his pitches are going. He is a thrower. Not a pitcher. After he pitched those 2.1 scoreless someone suggested he be made into a starter. Whoaaaaa

Clip didn't have to throw much in the 7th. He can do the 8th. for a while at least. It's only one out more than 2 innings.Am I going to have to come over there an separate you two, sjm and swami? Curlie W. Expect it. Tonight, I mean. I would do the emoticons for a smiley face, but I think NatsJack might throw up.

Davey knows more about managing than anyone on this blog. HRod has to deliver in that situation. The problem is not the managing the problem is the roster. Davey still has the second highest winning percentage of any active manager. Riiggleman had the lowest.

@carpe diem, for a thrower, he has one of the best breaking balls ive ever seen, and possesses the occasional ability to throw his 100mph on the black while changing speeds. if we could suffer through another season or so of sporadic henry, the nats could potentially watch him grow into the lights-out henry that we see (….in non-pressure situations)

Mark'd/Whatsanattau, you both basically are saying it isn't Davey's fault and I agree. I also put this on Rizzo. Davey needs a bullpen. Bring up Peacock as a starter and give Davey back Detwiler. Send Balestar back to Syracuse.Where I disagree with Whatsanattau is mentioning Riggleman. The man finished with a winning record with no Ryan Zimmerman and an injured Adam LaRoche and a .220 Jayson Werth and Slaten, Gaudin, Burnett, et al.Rizzo is in charge of putting a MLB roster together. The bullpen stinks except Clip and Storen.

Not the rest of the game. Try to make it to Storen. Two outs to go. Rockies are helping.

Bryan Scrafford - Aug 6, 2011 at 3:43 AM

I'm not so sure about that Anon 11:36. I get worried everytime Burnett comes in during a close game. He's streaky and I haven't been too confident in his ability to perform in high pressure situations.

@Anonymous said… @carpe diem, for a thrower, he has one of the best breaking balls ive ever seen, and possesses the occasional ability to throw his 100mph on the black while changing speeds. if we could suffer through another season or so of sporadic henry, the nats could potentially watch him grow into the lights-out henry that we see (….in non-pressure situations) August 5, 2011 11:30 PM _____________________Who cares? He throws to many in the dirt for wild pitches. The guy cant handle pressure. It wasn't like Davey brought him to face Troy Tulowitzki, he brought him in against a light hitting 2nd baseman named Chris Nelson, Who?

Again, rather be lucky than good – how many times do you have a pickoff in the 8th inning? here comes storen into the game in the 8th inning for a 4 out save!! Think Davey doesn't want this game. If nothing else, he is letting his team know!!go Nats and I love everyone on this site that is not named anon!! still think we need shutout ball to win this game

Burnetts done well lately might as well give him a shot. It's not like we're in playoff contention anyway and hed be valuable for us if he can put out the fire in key situations, like now. Spoiler alert: we are going to need more runs in order to win this game.

Two years ago this team was virtually unwatchable. Mike Rizzo has improved all phases of the There is still a lot of room for improvement, but it's coming.Winners never quit. Quitters never win. The last guy quit.Riggleman pulled Michael Morse time after time last year when he was in the middle of multiple-hit games.He was quick to bench Morse this past April. He did his best to destroy his confidence. He all but said that Morse wasn't an everyday player, and despite his numbers, said that he couldn't hit right handers.Does Drew have four outs for us?

@CBinDC said… Remember they are playing at 5200 ft makes big difference if you are not use to it August 5, 2011 11:46 PM __________________Sorry, they have been in Colorado for just about 2 full days now. Should be getting used to it.

Not going to argue too heavily in favor of HROD. He was one of my favorites but how can you justify what he has done lately? If he ever gets it together he will be amazing but that has just not happened and its a pretty good reason why he was traded.

Why did Rizzo choose this point and time to move Detwiler to the starting rotation. Shouldn't Peacock have made more sense. Wang to Detwiler to Jordan Zimmermann who Davey is handling like a fragile egg.

Yes, Joe, he does. Some may be lucky, but three more to go.Two years ago…even last year…I would have turned it off and walked away in tne 7th, if I even made it that long. Now I am waiting to watch us win. So are lots of people.

Carpe Diem saidSorry, they have been in Colorado for just about 2 full days now. Should be getting used to it. Well people react differently I was in Santa Fe once which is 7800 ft it took 4 days before I did not think I had been running all day ….after that in Denver was nothing

@CBinDC, I was up 1/2 way in Kilimanjaro about 8,000 feet up. I was fine up to 6,500 feet. Big difference above that. I just wont make excuses for these guys at what there problems are. They should communicate that with Davey if they have a problem. Maybe thats why we are seeing Burnett or maybe because he stinks.

ANON – hate to argue in the middle of a terrific game but do you really think Rizzo is calling the shots?? No way he moved Detwiler to the starting rotation, this is Davey's team and he is making all the moves.We score a BIG run and Storen is back out for the 4 out save!!

@sjm308, sorry, I think you are wrong. Davey said in an interview he expected to see Peacock and Milone. He didn't mention Detwiler. Do I believe Davey requested Detwiler for his bullpen a month ago, yes. Davey knows how bad his bullpen is. By now he knows what he has and it aint good.

CBinDC said… II hate to say it but Werth has gone back to being worthless …..those were terrible at bats all night and one reason they do not have more runs August 6, 2011 12:04 AM Come on, keep it positive. Werth and Nix were both off. DESMOND, ANKIEL, ZIM, and BEAST MODE, JZIM are the offensive heroes.

I kinda like the weather balloon. The music in it is fun, anyway. It's the WB Mason ads which drive me bonkers. I'm just glad the awful Luna ads are gone…grateful as I am for having ads to pay for the broadcasts.

Drew 8 – totally agreeAnons – you guys might be right, I would love to know who is calling the shots right now and I think Mark will find out for us.All I know is we have a curly W and that feels good.See you insiders tomorrow!

I love that Davey is our Manager and would love for him to be that for the forseeable future. However, there seems to be a recent pattern of mismanaging pitchers and Bullpen. Davey almost lost us the game today by bringing in Hrod in the 6th. There were more than 4 better options in that situation. first, I think JZim could have gotten the last out there instead of being taken out. second, Everyone should know by now that you do not bring in either Burnette or Hrod with runners on base in a close ballgame. Especially for HRod, at this point in his development, you should only bring him in with nobody on base. That way, he can walk as many people as he wants but still be able to get the outs and end the inning without giving up any runs.Most importantly is the fact that Clippard is very fresh as he has not pitched for quite a while, and so if you are going to take Zim out, with runners in, the best play was to bring Clip in as he will be good to go for 2+ innings. I will even argue that using Matheus was a better play here even with his recent struggles. Anyway, still happy that we got the win, and yes its easy to second guess the Manager but am just pointing out what is evident/obvious and I hope Daveys Pitching and bullpen management improves.

Was watching on MLB.tv on my brother's big-screen tv. Great picture, but still ads, mostly for umpire camp. My niece's hub is a White Sox fan, and my bro-in-law is a Twins fan so I foresee a family trip to a baseball game here tomorrow night. If it comes to pass, will report on the one that got away (Span) — although, boy, we canNOT afford to give up Storen with Stras coming back and sure to be on short innings.(Clippard– untouchable, and untouched! Unreal.)

Anon at 12:46, have to agree with most of your analysis, exceptI don't think HRod "wants" to walk people, he just does…Also, I don't think Davey wanted, or planned to have Clip work more than one inning. At that point we were ahead 4-0. HRod and Burnett are both unreliable with men on base, and Mattheus just melted down last night. I don't think Davey would have taken JZimm out if he hadn't sensed (or known by way of Ramos) that JZ was right on the edge of a meltdown, maybe from the altitude or just arm soreness. Maybe let Coffey try? Can't he get one out, then put HRod or Burnett in for the 7th with the bases clean. There are no good solutions here, given that we needed to win a game that we were ahead in.

JaneB — you were so right that I bailed on the guys too early!!! Soo then , after the great HRod debacle, I fell asleep in my chair, woke up for the ninth. Rolled back 30 min. on the dvr to fill in some gaps. Also caught the highlights on the postgame. I love it when they don't quit and Clippard is a wizard. Storen looked much better than he has lately.He has given up a couple of bombs lately. That was a TON of hits, too. JZim with a very big game — 2 hits! Making a vow not to give up too soon next time – HRod made me lose my mind.Temporary insanity.

Are you looking for a hot pitcher? Some guy named Shairon Martis is pitching very well now. Thursday he pitched 6 innings of shutout baseball. I bring him up and move Detwiler back to the bullpen. Davey can't manage with one of the most unbalanced bullpens in the NL.Two things that bother me is the Nats didn't have to be sellers at the trade deadline unless there were deals that had to be made like for a CF. He didn't have to trade Marquis. He could've DFA'd Wang. He didn't have to pick this moment in time to put Detwiler in the rotation. Detwiler really didn't impress in the Syracuse rotation. Also, Gorzelanny can still pitch in the rotation. I wonder about this Rizzo guy and have faith in Davey doing the best he can do.

NatsLady, who do you bring in when you have runners on base before the 7th inning?I would say Todd Coffey. After the 7th, Tyler Clippard.Henry Rodriguez, Sean Burnett, and Matteus are low pressure situation guys. Best to give them a fresh inning.Who can you really count on? 2 guys. Clippard and Storen. That's it.How's about Wilkie or Zech Dinicola? Is there anyone who can help?

Carpe -My philosophy is, generally, use your ace reliever when the game is in the balance. No guarantee you get to the 9th with a lead when sacks are packed in the 7th with one out. "Roles" at that point overtake winning, or at least putting yourself in the best position to do so, IMO.

@ Natslady. Yeah I did not mean he wants to walk people. Probably should have said that "as much as he inevitably will" or something. I see your point about not wanting to use Clip for more than two especially since we have two games left in the series but i just think that since he has not pitched much the last couple of days that he should be able to handle it. Also, a 4 run lead is more like a three run lead in this park so we should not be putting our inconsistent relief pitchers in the game at this point if we want to win the game. I guess maybe Cofee or even Bally could have worked if he didnt want to give Clip more than 1 inning or use Matheus due to recent struggles. Its a shame that Kimball is injured as i feel he certainly could have helped our bullpen.

A beer at the Red Loft to whomever guesses where the Nats' relivers are ranked in the MLB in ERA (to simplify the statistical measuring stick).They're tied for 8th with the Marlins. Just .01 points ahead of the Phillies.

Is that the relievers as a group? So – no matter how many innings each has pitched, it's an average? Thank God for Clip and Store – they are the ones that bring it down nice and low. I keep thinking that one of the others is going to go on a nice consistent streak. Maybe Coffey, or Burnett – one of the more experienced ones.

Also, reliever ERA is kind of a bunk stat. As we saw tonight, HRod's pathetic attempt at pitching cost JZimm's ERA, not his.It's much more accurate to look at FIP, or more importantly, xFIP, as relievers' HR% flucuate wildly. In xFIP, the Nats bullpen ranks 14th in the NL, tied with the Phillies, at 4.10. This really speaks to the incredible defensive ability of the Nats to take away hits, especially in late innings (another thing we saw tonight).

Just to bolster that point, Slaten currently holds an ERA of 2.19. Storen's ERA was at 2.87 before tonight's game. However, Storen's xFIP was at 3.34 (second only to Clippard's 3.10) while Slaten's is an embarrassing 5.48, tied with Gaudin for second-worst on the club.

I think the strategy with our middle relievers is to have 2 of them warm up.It's usually apparent immediately if they are on or off – the minute they get in trouble, yank them and bring in the second one.Especially HRod- you just can't let him get in sooo much trouble. He is not the type of player who can fix it while he is in the game.With a 4 run lead, it never should have gone 4 to 3.

@Grandstander said… Also, reliever ERA is kind of a bunk stat. As we saw tonight, HRod's pathetic attempt at pitching cost JZimm's ERA, not his.__________The proper way on effectiveness is taking a mix of inherited runners scoring and adding that to ERA. That way you know Slaten STINKS.Just watching JZim'nn ERA grow as both of his inherited runners scored STINKS. JZim'nn fell to #12 in NL ERA after last night.

Baseballswami, I like that scenario. When the Nats took Romero to the Minors, as bad as he was, he is more effective than Burnett in LOOGY situations. Rizzo failed to deal with the Burnett problem and MPHROD is classic inconsistency. Mattheus got SHELLED the other day leaving Coffey who is usually good vs. 1st batter faced. Personnel decision-making is on Rizzo and he is an enigma. Yes, he has to take care of player development so on one hand you see that with Detwiler and on the other hand he has a dead-end project in Wang. He hasn't promoted any young position players during the season unless you consider Bernadina and Bixler who have been fill-in yoyos. Where is Marrero or Lombardozzi?This team is winning with players who have been part of the 2010 and previous rosters. While the bench was improved it was often overshadowed by Matt Stairs who is as bad as it gets and stayed 4 months on the roster.The bullpen is much worse than last year. Not fair to rely on 2 players to carry the load of 7 men.As someone said, there is a lot of baseball left. It's those last 50 games for respectability.Rizzo is a FAIL because he still doesn't make sound judgement with regard to the final product which is the 25 assets called the Washington Nationals.

Just trolling the news for an update on Juan Nicasio. Nothing new. Found an interview with Troy Tulowitski, after the game last night, which started with him saying to reporters that they could ask him questions, but to please stay out of the locker room last night while the team deals with what happened. I totally love my Nats, but I DO, sometimes, love other players, even when they aren't ex-Nats. He just shot to the top of that list, for his straight ahead, in-the-moment, no Baseball Talking Head interview, if I could figure out how to link to it on this device, I would. It's on the MLB site.

baseballswami said…Pretty quiet here tonight — (crickets)…August 5, 2011 8:28 PMbaseballswami said…This is kind of scary…August 5, 2011 9:22 PMI've noticed the posts slowing down as the games get dramatic. I didn't leave work 'til 8 pm, got home at 8:30, paid my respects to all the beloved, opened the bottle of Extra Viejo Gran Reserva Rum from Puerto Plata, R.D. that a Dominican buddy dropped by the office, and then the game was on and my goodness – I can't get tot the computer because I'm hanging on every pitch and fixing supper. Is JZimm's stuff sinking as much as Nicasio's? (I think we should all thank F.P. Santangelo for exposing the heavy, humidified balls being used by the home pitchers in Denver. Why would Detwiler's pitches break less than the home team pitcher? It didn't seem to happen to JZimm) And then Nicasio gets hit in the head with Desmond's line drive. Desmond, who seems to me to be depressed. How does he handle it? By going 4 for 4. JZimm's hitting and baserunning. The game was so gripping I couldn't tear myself away to post. A couple days ago, HRod gave one of the most commanding relief performances I've ever seen to beat the Braves. I can't fault Davey for using him. But that thin air is Hell on pitchers used to throwing in our Mid-Atlantic soup. e.g. Chief's blowing a 5-1 lead in the 9th at Coors on Aug. 24, 2007, This team is usually in it 'til the end, are underdogs, and rewarded the faithful last night. I'm sorry I didn't get to the keyboard to share it with you, but enjoyed re-living the drama via your posts this morning!

I also think that posts on this site are suppressed by having to refresh the site yourself and having to enter the code-word capture before every post. Does Kabletown's budget not match the WaPo's, where posting is easier?

Nice game last night. I didn't start watching until the 6th (saw Cowboys & Aliens with wife – meh). Definitely the Bad Henry last night. Several well hit balls, too, which has been rare for him. It happens; there is a reason that he was available in trade, right? I mean, if he was lights out every time, there is no way we get him.I keep noticing a lot of anti-Davey comments, either in bullpen management or just overall. Here is my two cents:Davey is in charge here. Rizzo greatly respects and defers to him, so nothing, Detwiler starting or something else, happens without Davey's say-so. I believe that Davey is looking towards 2012 right now, and while he wants to win now, he is experimenting with players that he isn't sure about to see who he can rely on next year. This is particularly true in the bullpen. I do not think that he is going to sell out each game to get the win (meaning that he is not going to keep going to Clip and Storen at the risk of overusing them). So prepare yourselves to keep seeing Henry, Mattheus, and even Balestar in high leverage spots, and Detwiler starting. Sure, Detwiler may be better suited to the bullpen long term, but why not see if he can make the next step to starter right now? I think that this is what DC Wonk meant a few days ago about short term pain for long term gain.I think that this is the correct way to manage for the rest of the year, and I also think that Davey is going to be really good for this team, when he gets things the way that he wants them.

It's hard for me to post when I'm not at my computer. Posting from the phone takes almost 10 minutes per post and some get lost. Posting from my sister's ipad is only marginally less of a challenge. So a lot of times I don't post during the game.

And, sorry, folks, won't be posting tonight either, as almost 1/2 of the family gathering (6 of 13) are going to the Twins-White Sox game. This will be an adventure as none of us have been to the stadium before and the game is sold out. Will represent with Nats jersey and hat.If I can get a signal, I'll be able to follow our game on the phone. Hope so. Go NATS! GO Livo!!!

This team is truly in an awkward position right now. One of the things I see that is a problem with Rizzo is that he cannot admit when he has misjudged something. He stays with it too long. His tenacity is great when dealing with agents, though. Even though I am disappointed at having DJ as our manager, I think he will probably stick with that decision, too. I would like to see them do a full out , open minded search. Rizzo was building the team, I thought with DJ's input and so it surprises me that they now are changing direction to suit him. IMO that is resulting in backtracking and losing time.We are between identities right now – pitching/defense or the big offensive play. Can both be integrated? One thing that I think defines them is the hard work/ gritty determination and never-say-die attitude. It's also seems to be a team of truly level-headed guys who are not prima donnas or egotists. We used to make fun of "the plan" but I can see pieces of it starting to gel. I hope they keep things in forward motion.

Oh – and agreed on the posting – when the game is exciting it's tough to take time out to type, click, scroll, type the capture, click, etc. Half the time whatever you type is old by the time it pops up! I do enjoy reading the reactions of the fans who are watching during the game, though.

Yeah, I agree that something really needs to be done about the commenting system. It's incredibly cumbersome when it really doesn't need to be. After the writing of Mark Z, the strongest asset this site has is the posting community, imo.Also, something to think about. This team hasn't scored less than 3 runs in a game since getting swept by the Marlins, going 5-3 as a result. Over that time, as a team, they've slashed .304/.353/.471 averaging 4.6 runs/game and 10.5 hits/game.

Flynnie et alia, a couple of tips to make things easier:It won't refresh any faster if you have a slow connection, but (on Windows) the F5 key refreshes the page. Some people find that easier than using the mouse.Type the captcha in first. Open a comment, click on Post Comment and type in the Secret Word, but don't post yet–click Edit for the post. Now you can type whatever comes to mind, and when you next click Post Comment, it will. I don't think the process is the problem, personally–we've had long stretches of 200+ comments on game threads.

NatsLady – we will miss your exceptionally knowledgable comments tonight. I know you're not visiting family – you're a scout, and you've been dropping in on ball parks across the country. Sorry to blow your cover!

Re Rizzo's tenacity, this from Baseball Think Factory on Verducci't Billy Beane article: To me what's killed Beane recently is hyper-activity. He never seems to want to wait and see what exactly it is he's built. He's also dealing away his home grown guys after they hit arbitration instead of when they're about to hit free agency. So Haren and Swisher and Street and Scutaro and now Ziegler all left a couple of years before they'd actually have become free agents. Guys like Zito, Giambi and Tejada got all of their years in, while Hudson and Mulder got all but one in (and they got a good return for Mulder).The Rangers were the first team I thought of as the current "Moneyballers" – a team that thinks outside the box to maximize the return on its resources. Many of their best recent moves were unconventional – signing a major-league retread (Colby Lewis) out of Japan to a multi-year deal, converting effective 75 IP/year relievers (C.J. Wilson and Alexi Ogando) into effective 200 IP/year starters, trading a top pitching prospect for a very high-risk, high-reward young hitter (Josh Hamilton), and moving a good-hit, bad-glove All-Star (Michael Young) from "premium" defensive positions to a 1B/DH/utility role to maximize his value.

Baseballswami – I don't think they are backtracking. They are finding pieces of a contender, which keeps going forward. The only difference that I see is before, the team looked to maximize wins each day, whatever it took. So they stayed with the people they felt were contributing right then. I think that is the right approach for a contending team, but it also put Clip on pace for 100 innings.I think davey concluded sometime in July that it wasn't going to happen this year, and is using some amount of the rest of this season to find out about other players who may contribute next year, when he is trying to contend for the playoffs, rather than experiment then. I think that is true mostly with the pitching staff, not position players. He talked about Milone and Peacock. He has already put Gorzy in the pen, when he has admitted that he wouldn't have done it if they were contending for a playoff spot. I think Livo is heading this way too. It is also why I think they don't really believe Bernie is a starting OF, despite what they say.So the main difference in approach is, he doesn't value finishing at .500 as much as some of us posters do. He thinks that 75 wins but finding one or two more pieces for next year is better than 81 wins with more questions.PS I also post the way Sec 3 mentioned

When you see Emilio Bonifacio being the MVP for the Marlins, GasCanrahan as the NL All-Star closer, Marlon Byrd excelling at the Cubs, and who was the minor league pitcher the Nats traded to the Tigers couple years back? Maybe Rizzo is not patient enough. Trying to find a starter in Detwiler seems to me a good thing. See Texas Rangers, above.

baseballswami said… This team is truly in an awkward position right now. One of the things I see that is a problem with Rizzo is that he cannot admit when he has misjudged something. He stays with it too long._______________________________________I agree with that part of the statement. I think Davey is getting grief for sticking with the persistent problems that he has on his roster.

Here is the relevant quote:On Saturday, the club issued an update: "Juan Nicasio is resting comfortably at a Denver hospital following surgery early this morning to stabilize a fracture to the C-1 vertebrae in his neck. Juan will remain hospitalized as he recovers from the surgery."

flynnie, I would love to do that. Planning to see the Nats-Cubs on the way home, but I stopped there on my way to Minnesota, what a zoo!! Wasn't able to get anywhere near the box office to get tickets. Also, someone commented on the racial make-up of our team…Well, the only black person I saw near Wrigley Field was a black lady cop directing traffic. On the talk radio (African-American), they talk Bears, NBA, and Sox, don't mention the Cubs–ever. Really segragated. And speaking of the Sox, whooo have they got names for Adam Dunn. And that's only the ones I heard on the radio.

NatsLady Ahh what would be the problem with the racial make up of the Nats …..this is one team that covers a very wide range of people whose ethnic lines are numerous and varied ….. that I would say is very diverse.

@CBinDC – I wasn't the one who made the comment. Someone remarked that after Bernie got sent down and Hairston got traded the team was "very white".Doesn't seem like it to me. And if you are going to qualify Bernie as a person of color (African-American???), then surely Livo qualifies. I'm not an expert on racial politics, so I'll shut up now.

Sofa, I grew up in Chicago (South Side) and I had NEVER in my life been on the North Side further than a few blocks from downtown. This was my first view of the area around Wrigley Field Didn't make me feel comfortable at all.

NatsLady …I really do not understand such statements really ……funny thing is that those who look for such things would not have counted Hairston or Bernadena among the "opposite of white" census. And this I understand was the expressed in Minnesota or was it Northside Chicago?

CBinDC: I'm sorry, not trying to be rude but I couldn't comprehend your response to my post. I don't know what you are trying to say, or trying to ask. –NatsLady born and grew up in Chicago, posted from my own computer while visiting family in Minnesota.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think it was Unkyd who was making a valid point about city of DC (50% population is blacks) has no black baseball players. I think AA community will take more interest in Nationals if they had someone like them to follow. Young kids have Gilbert, etc to follow in those neighborhoods but none baseball players. If someone like Crisp were to come, I think that can help both the team and game in DC.Oh and I am not saying this team is white or anything.

Ok sorry to have been gotten my tenses crossed up ….I wanted to know where you heard this said about the team and who were they ……it was not clear if it was in Chicago or Minneapolis/St Paul or anywhere in the US sorry ……on the NO persons of color on the team it does seem that many on the team are AA in the same the way the President is AA …..I know that there are some in the DC area who are quick to judge the Nats but that only has to been around the handling of Frank Robinson